SkyBridge Alternatives Conference

Last updated
SALT
Genre Conference
DatesMay
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s) New York City, New York, U.S.
Inaugurated2009
Founders Anthony Scaramucci
Sponsor SkyBridge Capital [1]
Website salt.org

The SkyBridge Alternatives Conference (often stylized SALT or SALT iConnections) is an annual hedge fund conference sponsored by SkyBridge Capital that started in 2009. The world's largest hedge fund conference, it is considered by The New York Times to be "one of Wall Street's most prominent gatherings" [2] and by Reuters to be a flagship conference for Wall Street. [3] Traditionally held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the conference moved to New York City in 2021. [3] [4] The conference is known for hosting talks by "high-profile market experts, politicians and show business personalities". [5]

Contents

History

Founded in 2009 by Anthony Scaramucci, SALT has evolved into a three-day conference [6] that initially caused his rise to fame. [7] The inaugural conference took place in May 2009 in the ballroom of the Encore Las Vegas. [8]

The 2012 conference featured a performance by Maroon 5 and speeches by Al Gore and Sarah Palin. [9] That same year saw the launch of SALT Singapore, [10] which was later rebranded SALT Asia. By 2014, SALT Asia was reported to attract approximately half as many attendees as its larger Las Vegas counterpart. [11]

In 2017, the attempted [6] sale of SkyBridge Capital to HNA Group resulted in the SALT conference being spun off into its own entity [12] and Scaramucci's divestiture to join then-President Donald Trump's administration. [13] Eleven days after his hiring, he was fired by Trump and returned to SALT. [3] The proposed sale, which caused a hiatus in 2018, [14] did not complete, with HNA Group withdrawing its bid. [6]

Starting with the 2019 conference, the conference's focus shifted from being predominantly hedge fund focused to attracting wider audiences. It features world leaders, after-hours parties, and a concert. The 2019 conference included a performance by John Fogerty. [6] Speaking with Reuters in 2019, which noted how the conference was more subdued than in previous years without a party atmosphere, Scaramucci stated "What we are trying to do is very sober". [15] The conference experienced its second-highest attendance that year, with attendees interviewed by Reuters appreicating "the faster-paced program" and "subdued tone", which they felt "was more appropriate for the current times" [15]

The 2023 conference featured an interview with Dr. Garry Nolan about Unidentified flying objects which was hosted by SALT managing partner Alex Klokus. [16] [17] Klokus hosted another object discussion with retired Lieutenant colonel Karl Nell, a former member of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, at the 2024 conference. [18] [19]

Attendance

The largest hedge fund conference in the world, [20] SALT was referred to by journalist Lawrence Delevingne in 2014 as "the Super Bowl of hedge funds". [11] [21] As of 2018, SALT has averaged 1,800 attendees and hosted former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eton Park Capital Management</span> Hedge fund run 2004 to 2017

Eton Park Capital Management was an investment firm. The firm aimed to provide risk-adjusted returns for investors over multi-year periods. The firm invested in a range of markets and products, including public equity, fixed income and derivatives markets. Eric Mindich was the firm's Chief Executive Officer. Eton Park had offices in New York City, London, and Hong Kong. From 2012 to 2014, Eton Park's annualized return averaged over 13% while the S&P500 averaged nearly 18%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Ackman</span> American billionaire hedge fund manager

William Albert Ackman is an American billionaire hedge fund manager, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company. His investment approach has made him an activist investor. As of June 2024, Ackman's net worth was estimated at $9.3 billion by Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sculptor Capital Management</span> American investment management firm

Sculptor Capital Management is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world.

Avenue Capital Group is an American multinational investment firm focusing on distressed securities and private equity with regional teams focusing on opportunities in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm operates as both a private equity firm and as a hedge fund. Avenue's core strategy is focused on distressed debt and equity securities although the firm also manages investment funds that focus on long-short opportunities, real estate, and collateralized debt obligations. The firm manages assets valued at approximately $9.5 billion. The firm was founded by former professionals of Amroc Investments, an affiliate of the Robert M. Bass Group.

Harbinger Capital Partners is a private hedge fund based in New York City, New York, founded by Philip Falcone. Harbinger is a highly diversified multi-strategy hedge fund. Notable investments have included sub-prime mortgages in the United States and the United Kingdom, such as HBOS, and LightSquared, a wireless communications company that filed bankruptcy in 2012.

SkyBridge Capital is a global investment firm based in New York City, United States. It is run by founder Anthony Scaramucci, Brett S. Messing, and Raymond Nolte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Scaramucci</span> American financier and political figure (born 1964)

Anthony Scaramucci is an American financier who briefly served as the White House Director of Communications from July 21 to July 31, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pershing Square Capital Management</span> American hedge fund

Pershing Square Capital Management is an American hedge fund management company founded and run by Bill Ackman, headquartered in New York City.

Jason Mudrick is an American investment manager that founded and became chief investment officer of Mudrick Capital Management, an investment firm focused on special situations such as distressed securities and deep value event driven investing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millennium Management, LLC</span> American hedge fund

Millennium Management is an investment management firm with a multistrategy hedge fund offering. It is one of the world's largest alternative asset management firms with over $67.7 billion assets under management as of June 2024. The firm operates in America, Europe and Asia. As of 2022, Millennium had posted the fourth highest net gains of any hedge fund since its inception in 1989.

Pine River Capital Management is an American asset management firm based in Minnetonka, MN. The firm traded its investors funds using stocks, fixed income, derivatives and warrants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenview Capital Management</span>

Glenview Capital Management is a hedge fund founded in 2000 with approximately $7.7 billion of capital under management as of March 2019. Glenview manages capital for investors through a series of private investment funds. The firm was founded by Larry Robbins, the firm's CEO and portfolio manager, and is based in New York.

Elizabeth Lee Hennessee, also known as Lee Hennessee-Gradante, was an American pioneer hedge fund manager, noted as one of the most powerful women in New York, she was also campaign finance chair for Elizabeth Dole's presidential run. Hennessee and her husband, Charles J. Gradante, founded and managed the Hennessee Group LLC hedge fund for many years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archview Investment Group LP</span>

Archview Investment Group LP was an institutional alternative investment firm based out of Stamford, Connecticut. The firm was founded in 2009 by Founding Principals Jeffrey Jacob and John Humphrey.

Brigade Capital Management, LP, more commonly referred to as Brigade Capital, is a global alternative investment manager specializing in credit investment strategies. The firm employs a multi-strategy, multi-asset class investment approach focused on leveraged balance sheets and manages core strategies across long/short credit, distressed debt, capital structure arbitrage, long/short equities and structured credit. The hedge fund invests primarily in the retail, media, telecommunications, healthcare, finance, utilities and energy sectors with particular expertise in distressed securities, bankruptcy and reorganization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jana Partners</span> American activist investment firm

JANA Partners LLC is an investment manager specializing in event-driven investing. It was founded in 2001 by Barry Rosenstein. JANA engages in traditional shareholder activism and socially responsible investing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melvin Capital</span> American investment management firm

Melvin Capital Management LP was an American investment management firm based in New York City. It was founded in 2014 by Gabriel Plotkin, who named the firm after his late grandfather.

Gregg S. Hymowitz is an American billionaire who is the chairman, chief executive officer and founder of EnTrust Global, a diversified alternative investment firm. Hymowitz is an activist investor, known for his bold investment strategy. According to Forbes, he has an estimated personal net worth of $1.7 billion as of May 2024.

Engine No. 1 is an American activist and impact-focused investment firm. It attracted attention with its campaign to replace four members of ExxonMobil's board of directors despite owning only 0.02% of the company's shares. The firm describes its investment approach as "active ownership", as it prefers to work with management instead of launching activist campaigns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson Bay Capital Management</span> American Hedge Fund

Hudson Bay CapitalManagement (HBC) is an American multi-strategy investment management firm headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

References

  1. Kokalitcheva, Kia (September 19, 2022). "Crypto gets top billing at SkyBridge SALT event amid market 'winter'". Axios . Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  2. de la Merced, Michael J. (2017-01-17). "Trump Aide Scaramucci Sells Investment Business to Chinese Consortium". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  3. 1 2 3 Herbst-Bayliss, Svea (September 15, 2021). "Flagship Wall St conference sees record attendance, run on steak". Reuters . Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  4. Velati, Alyson. "That's hot: Paris Hilton and Steve Cohen expected at Anthony Scaramucci's SALT, as hedge funds celebrate their comeback at one of the industry's biggest conferences". Business Insider . Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  5. Cox, Jeff (2017-01-17). "Trump adviser Scaramucci sells his hedge fund business". CNBC . Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Levy, Rachael. "Hedge Funds No Longer Stars of Their Flashiest Conference". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  7. Abu Omar, Abeer (2024-02-29). "Scaramucci's SkyBridge Jumps 16% This Year as Bitcoin Rallies - BNN Bloomberg". BNN Bloomberg. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  8. Scaramucci, Anthony (October 24, 2016). "How Anthony Scaramucci 'Hopped Over the Rabbit Hole'". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  9. Pressler, Jessica (2012-05-04). "How Anthony Scaramucci Attracts Clients -- New York Magazine - Nymag". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  10. Yamazaki, Tomoko (October 16, 2012). "Scaramucci to Raise Hedge-Fund Bets in Asia With SALT". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Delevingne, Lawrence (2014-03-18). "Hedge fund showcase event SALT looks to exit Singapore". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  12. Stevenson, Alexandra (2017-05-19). "Anthony Scaramucci, Hedge Fund Showman, Finds Himself in Limbo". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  13. Beilfuss, Lisa. "SkyBridge Capital Founder, an Adviser to Donald Trump, to Exit Business". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  14. 1 2 Herbst-Bayliss, Svea; Delevingne, Lawrence (January 24, 2018). "Scaramucci hits pause button on Las Vegas hedge fund party". Reuters. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  15. 1 2 Herbst-Bayliss, Svea (May 9, 2019). "Scaramucci celebrates hedge funds in Vegas at SALT with less glitz". Reuters. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  16. "Stanford Professor Says Aliens Are '100%' Living Among Us | 98.1 The Breeze". The Morning Breeze w/ Carolyn McArdle & Cort Johnson. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  17. Chung, Frank (May 20, 2023). "Stanford professor says aliens are '100 per cent' on earth, US is 'reverse-engineering downed UFOs'". News.com.au . Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  18. Whiteside, Steph; Coulthart, Ross (2024-05-30). "Aliens are interacting with humans: Ret. Army Col". NewsNation . Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  19. "Excoronel de EE UU: «La inteligencia extraterrestre existe e interactúa con la humanidad»". El Nacional (in Spanish). May 31, 2024. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  20. Fortado, Lindsay (July 26, 2017). "'Relax, Scaramucci isn't touching your money'". The Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  21. Stevenson, Alexandra (2016-06-17). "A Who's Who of Financiers Is Expected at Trump's New York Fund-Raiser". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-06-02.